Voters favored limits on data centers in 45 of the 46 local ballot measures with votes counted from the November 3 election, according to unofficial results collected by Data Centers on the Ballot, a tracker run by Redbud Consulting. As of November 5, the side favoring limits held 72.8 percent of more than 258,000 votes counted.

The tracker lists 47 measures in 10 states, including 21 in Ohio, eight in Maine, seven in Illinois and four in Kansas. Thirty-seven are binding and 10 are advisory. Resident petitions started 27, including four that reached voters only after court rulings. Those drew 69.5 percent of their combined vote, against 77.6 percent for the 18 placed by local governing bodies. Counts are complete in 40 measures, and limits won 39 of them. The tracker has no count yet from Brownfield, Maine.

The exception was Harwood, North Dakota, where voters rejected 325 to 105 a charter amendment requiring independent studies and a public hearing before the city approves large industrial projects. Residents proposed it after the city approved Applied Digital’s data center campus in 2025. The closest with limits ahead were Sprigg Township, Ohio, at 330 to 297, and Grove City, Ohio, at 11,317 to 9,411.

In Trenton, Ohio, a ban on data centers above 25 megawatts passed 3,541 to 903, after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the city council had wrongly refused to send it to voters. Amazon had proposed a 1,000-megawatt campus on about 600 acres the city hoped to annex, and local reports say the ban blocks that plan. Prologis, which is building a 250-megawatt facility in the city’s industrial park, and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce helped fund the opposition.

Piqua, Ohio, approved a similar ban 4,061 to 2,027. Meta bought more than 600 acres there last year for about $110 million and has signed agreements with the city, and the ban’s effect on the project is unclear. A Meta spokesperson said the company “will work with local officials to determine the future of our investment in Piqua.” In a separate election the same day, voters recalled the mayor and two other commissioners.

Sunbury, Ohio, passed a ban 2,809 to 763 after Amazon proposed a $2 billion project there. An Amazon spokesperson said the company was “disappointed with the result.” Pataskala, Ohio, passed one 5,418 to 1,941 after its council had already rejected a 200-megawatt plan from Aligned Data Centers, which has asked a judge to review that decision.

Ashville, Ohio, voted 1,469 to 331 to overturn its agreement with EdgeConneX, which says its development is moving forward because its permits are secured and construction is underway. Joliet Township, Illinois, voted 14,207 to 3,800 against an advisory question on whether the Joliet City Council should approve AI data centers. The council approved a 795-acre campus 8 to 1 in March. Courts have yet to decide whether bans favored in Emporia and Ottawa, Kansas, can take effect.

The tracker lists 14 measures as pre-emptive or tied to no formal proposal, and organizers in Granville, Ohio, called their village’s ban “largely symbolic.” Thirty-one of the 46 counts are under 5,000 votes.

In NBC News’ national exit poll, 76 percent of voters said they oppose construction of a new data center in their community, and 56 percent called AI and data centers a crucial or major factor in their vote for Congress. Data Center Watch counted at least 45 US projects blocked or delayed by local opposition in the second quarter. Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon together report about $1.02 trillion in leases signed but not yet started.

Sources: Data Centers on the Ballot, NBC News, Semafor

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By the Control Plane Editorial Team